Mg-, Ca-, Sr- and Ba-single-doped La₂O₃ as well as Mg-Ba co-doped La₂O₃ catalysts were synthesized via a hydrothermal method and evaluated for the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM). The experimental results revealed that the Mg-modified La₂O₃ catalyst activates O₂ and CH₄ effectively, yet achieves only moderate C₂₊ selectivity. Conversely, the Ba-modified analogue affords high C₂₊ selectivity, albeit at the expense of lower reaction activity. Notably, the Mg-Ba co-doped La₂O₃ catalyst strikes an effective balance between activity and selectivity, enhancing catalytic performance while maintaining a high C₂₊ selectivity. Specifically, at a Mg/Ba molar ratio of 1∶1 and 700 °C, it achieved a CH₄ conversion of 29.5%, a C₂₊ selectivity of 54.5% and a corresponding C₂₊ yield of 16.1%.The characterization results indicate that Mg and Ba co-doped La₂O₃ catalysts promotes the formation of more ${\mathrm{O}}_2^- $ species on the catalyst surface, which in turn significantly enhances both the activity and selectivity of La₂O₃ catalysts.

Carbohydrates, derived from abundant biomass resources, hold great promise for their conversion into fine platform chemicals and fuels, which is crucial for the sustainable development. The processes for the conversion of carbohydrates are predominantly driven by catalysis, with active components such as Brønsted acids and Lewis acids. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the catalytic conversion of various carbohydrates (monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides) into high-value-added compounds. It elaborates on the specific pathways and mechanisms involved in reactions like hydrolysis, isomerization, and dehydration for target molecules such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, lactic acid, and furfural. Furthermore, the subsequent derivatization of these platform compounds and their application prospects in energy-related fields, including bio-fuels and batteries, are discussed. Finally, the current challenges in research are summarized, and future directions for the development of low-cost and high-performance catalytic systems are outlined.

Designing highly efficient catalysts for the direct conversion of syngas to C₂₊ alcohols is crucial for the effective utilization of coal-based resources and the enhancement of national energy security. In this study, a series of Na-modified CoFe/Al₂O₃ catalysts were synthesized via the impregnation method, and their catalytic performance in syngas-to-alcohol reactions was systematically evaluated. Multiple characterization techniques, including XRD, N₂ adsorption-desorption, H₂-TPR, XPS, DRIFTS, in situ Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopy, were employed to elucidate the synergistic effects of Na and Fe promoters on the catalyst structure and catalytic behavior. The results demonstrate that Na facilitates the formation of Co-Fe alloy sites during the reaction. Simultaneously, Fe modifies the electronic state of Co species and promotes the transformation of lattice oxygen into adsorbed oxygen, thereby increasing the concentration of surface oxygen vacancies. The synergistic interaction between the alloy and carbide sites enhances the CO insertion capability of olefin intermediates, leading to a significantly improved selectivity towards C₂₊ alcohols. Under the conditions of 260 °C and 2 MPa, the Co1Fe1Na1 catalyst exhibited optimal performance, achieving a total alcohol selectivity of 45%, with C₂₊ alcohols accounting for 94.1%. This study provides novel insights into the rational design of Co-based catalysts for the efficient conversion of syngas to C₂₊ alcohols.

In this study, phosphorus and transition metal-modified ZSM-5 molecular sieves were prepared via the incipient wetness impregnation method and characterized by XRD, N₂ adsorption-desorption, and pyridine-IR spectroscopy. The effects of modified zeolites on the catalytic pyrolysis of n-heptane, 3-methylhexane, and methylcyclohexane were systematically investigated, revealing the structure-activity relationship between acid properties and catalytic performance. The results indicate that phosphorus and transition metal modification can regulate the L/B acid ratio of ZSM-5, which significantly influences product distribution. An excessively high L/B acid ratio promotes hydrogen and coke formation, leading to pore blockage and reduced conversion, whereas an appropriate L/B acid ratio facilitates mild dehydrogenation, enhancing ethylene and propylene yields. The reactant conversion followed the order: n-heptane > 3-methylhexane > methylcyclohexane. Efficient conversion of 3-methylhexane and methylcyclohexane requires catalysts with high L acid mount, strong Brønsted acid amount, optimized L/B acid ratio, as well as high specific surface area and micropore specific surface area. This study provides critical insights for designing high-efficiency alkane pyrolysis catalysts.

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have shown great promise for ethane dehydrogenation (EDH), owing mainly to their near-100% atomic utilization, precisely tunable active sites, and superior catalytic performance. Studies reveal that the nature of active metals, the properties of support and the coordination environments are critical factors affecting EDH performance. Among various supports, graphene has emerged as an ideal support material due to its excellent thermal stability and flexible, tunable coordination structure. While previous research has explored the effects of different active metals and coordination environments, a systematic understanding of their underlying principles is still lacking due to fragmented data. To bridge this gap, this work constructed a systematic, comprehensive database of heteroatom-doped graphene-supported SACs, covering five representative metal single atoms and 51 distinct coordination environments grouped into six major categories. Through high-throughput calculations, multi-dimensional data were systematically obtained, including elementary reaction energies, vibrational frequencies, density of states and Bader charges. A rigorous quality control system was implemented at both the parameter-setting and computational result levels. The database also provides complete raw calculation files, offering reliable data support for in-depth analysis of the catalytic performance, structure-performance relationship and reaction mechanisms of heteroatom-doped graphene-supported SACs in EDH.

Dry reforming of methane (DRM), which simultaneously converts CH₄ and CO₂ into syngas, represents a promising strategy for greenhouse gas mitigation and carbon-neutral feedstock production. However, Ni-based catalysts commonly suffer from severe sintering and carbon deposition under high-temperature, leading to rapid deactivation. In this work, MgO-MgAl₂O₄ composite supports are employed to regulate Ni loading. Ce, La and Zr are introduced as promoters to investigate their effects on DRM activity, structural stability, and surface oxygen species. The results show that an optimal Ni loading of 12.5% offers highest CH₄ and CO₂ conversions. Although the introduction of promoters slightly suppresses catalytic activity in the low-temperature region, they substantially modify the local structural order of the support and the metal-support interfacial environment, thereby improving NiO dispersion and increasing the concentration of surface oxygen vacancies and active oxygen species (O_β). These changes enhance CO₂ adsorption-activation and effectively suppress carbon deposition. After 20 h of DRM reaction, the Ce-promoted catalyst exhibits the smallest Ni particle growth (6.23→8.07 nm) and the lowest carbon deposition, demonstrating superior structural stability and anti-coking capability. This study elucidates how Ce, La and Zr promoters enhance the resistance to sintering and coking through interfacial electronic modulation and improved oxygen storage/release capacity, offering valuable guidelines for the rational design of highly stable Ni-based DRM catalysts.

Inherent minerals play a significant role in the thermal conversion of coal. However, the influence mechanism of the interactions among minerals on the generation of tar during coal pyrolysis remains unclear. To investigate the mechanism of the effect of acidic mineral components on the behavior of Ca²⁺ during coal pyrolysis, several samples were prepared by HCl and HF washing and Ca²⁺ ion exchanging. The pyrolysis behaviors of the experimental coal samples were examined in a fixed-bed reactor. During the acid washing process, the ash content was effectively reduced, while the contents of organic elements such as carbon and hydrogen were also decreased. The loading of ion-exchangeable calcium enhanced the thermal weight loss rate of the coal sample in the 500–550 °C range, and the corresponding peak temperature shifted from 530 to 514 °C for the coal without Ca. When coal was pyrolyzed at a final temperature of 600 °C with a slow heating rate, kaolinite in acidic mineral components undergoes dehydroxylation to form metakaolin, and the content of small aromatic rings (<6 rings) in the char pyrolyzed by Ca-loaded coal sample was lower than that of the coal sample after acid washing. Due to the coexistence of acidic mineral components with ion-exchangeable Ca, the content of aliphatic hydrocarbons in the pyrolysis tar of YL-HCl-Ca reached 21.98%, significantly higher than 13.60% in the corresponding pyrolysis tar of YL-De-Ca. From the apparent results, it can be found that the acidic mineral components inhibit the adverse effect of ion exchangeable Ca²⁺ on the lightening of coal tar.

Coal gasification fine slag (CGFS) is a solid waste generated from entrained-flow coal gasification, characterized by fine particles and rich in silicon and aluminum elements. Using CGFS as a raw material for the preparation of ZSM-5 molecular sieves enables the high-value utilization of coal-based solid waste, offering significant economic and environmental benefits. This study proposes a simple and economical hydrothermal synthesis process for ZSM-5 using CGFS as the raw material. In this process, impurities in CGFS were first removed by acid washing, which facilitated the subsequent alkaline extraction of silicon and aluminum species. The extracted Si-Al precursors were then converted into ZSM-5 via hydrothermal crystallization at 170 °C for 48 h, yielding a product with a high specific surface area of 358 m²/g. Adsorption experiments demonstrated that the synthesized ZSM-5 exhibited excellent adsorption performance for Pb²⁺ in aqueous solutions. At 25 °C, the removal efficiency for a 50 mg/L Pb²⁺ solution reached 83.7%, with an adsorption capacity of 104.625 mg/g under optimized conditions. The adsorption process is mainly governed by chemisorption mechanisms, including surface complexation, precipitation, and ion exchange. The synthesized ZSM-5 shows promising potential for application in the treatment of lead-containing wastewater.

Carbon deposition caused by mass transfer limitations is a key challenge for traditional microporous ZSM-5 zeolites in the process of coal tar catalytic cracking. To address this problem, benzene was selected and used as a model compound for coal tar in the study. The parent ZSM-5 (NL-ZSM-5) was modified with tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH) to prepare hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites with different mesopore sizes. A suite of characterization techniques (XRD, FT-IR, BET, TEM) were combined with fixed-bed experiments and molecular simulations to systematically investigate the effects of pore structure, acidic properties, and reaction temperature on the coking mechanism. The characterization results confirmed that mesopores were successfully introduced via the selective desilication with TEAOH, while the original MFI topological structure was retained. When TEAOH concentration is 0.4 mol/L (ZSM-5-C), the total pore volume increases from 0.24 to 0.43 cm³/g, and the amount of Brønsted acid (B acid) increased from 0.28 to 0.67 mmol/g. Moreover, the acid site accessibility was significantly improved. Analysis of catalytic experiments and carbon deposition indicate that carbon deposition is effectively inhibited in the hierarchical pore structure through a synergistic effect of “diffusion enhancement and adsorption-site regulation”. The coke amount of ZSM-5-C is 4.0%, which is only one-third of that of the pure microporous NL-ZSM-5 (11.9%). The results of molecular dynamics simulations confirm that the diffusion coefficient of benzene in the 3.0 nm mesopore model is an order of magnitude higher than that in the 2.0 nm model. Furthermore, the adsorption capacity decreases with the increasing in mesopore size, resulting in a shorter residence time of molecules within the pore channels. In addition, although increasing the temperature can enhance the molecular diffusion rate, it also exponentially intensifies surface condensation reactions (Arrhenius effect), which becomes the dominant driver of coke formation. The hierarchical pore structure, however, can effectively mitigate this negative effect. This research provide a theoretical basis for the design of high-efficiency and coke-resistant catalysts for coal tar conversion.

The carbonylation of glycerol with carbon dioxide (CO₂) to produce glycerol carbonate is an effective route for the resource utilization of CO₂, which can not only alleviate the carbon emission but also enable the synthesis of value-added chemicals. As this reaction process suffers from low glycerol conversion due to the thermodynamic limitation, introducing a coupling agent besides an appropriate catalyst is necessary to achieve the efficient synthesis of glycerol carbonate. This article systematically reviews the recent research progress in the homogeneous catalysts (inorganic bases and organic bases) and heterogeneous catalysts (Zn, Cu, Ce, La, Mg, noble metal, modified zeolite, non-metallic materials, etc.) for the direct carbonylation of glycerol with CO₂. The strategies such as metal oxide modification, support optimization, precursor selection, and construction of acidic-basic sites to enhance the catalytic performance are analyzed, while the effects of coupling agents (acetonitrile, adiponitrile, 2-cyanopyridine, MgCO₃, CaC₂, NaHCO₃, etc.) are summarized. Among them, 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU), Zn(QTf)₂, and metal composite oxides such as ZnO-CeO₂ have demonstrated promising catalytic performance in the carbonylation of glycerol with CO₂. To enhance the efficiency for the carbonylation of glycerol with CO₂, following measures should be taken in the future: developing organometallic complexes or composite metal oxides with highly dispersed active sites and specially tailored morphologies to modulate the surface area, pore size, and surface acidity/basicity of the catalysts; optimizing coupling agents or designing novel membrane reactors to improve the glycerol conversion; introducing polar solvents to improve the adsorption and activation capabilities of reactants and thereby to boost the catalytic activity. All these would provide valuable references for the catalyst design and reaction system optimization in the carbonylation of glycerol with CO₂.